Marinus of Eurasia
Quintus Eurasius Iulianus Marinus Redemptor, September 15th, 1890 - November 2nd, 1967 (77) was the Emperor of Eurasia following the abdication of Laurentius III in May of 1947. He was succeeded by his son, Justinius V of Eurasia, after his death from lung cancer in 1967. Born in 1890, Marinus was a quiet and withdrawan child, suffering from a stutter and several infantile illnesses in his first years of life. Destined for the quiet life of a Prince and Duke, Marinus was absent from the public eye for much of his early life, and made few appearances alongside his father or elder brother. Upon turning eighteen, he enlisted in the Eurasian Legions as a tribune at the request of his father. He is suspected to have suffered from lifelong nervousness and anxiety, and his stutter never quite left him. Marinus was a career military officer and general, but often served in non-combat positions. When the Great War broke out in 1936, Marinus masterminded the invasions of Newellia and Zackalantis, and in 1939 was appointed Prime Minister of War. However, this position was largely symbolic, as most government power had been de facto transferred to Laurentius, and Marinus was little more than a rubber stamp. From this position, he became aware of the extent to which the Omnestacita was being conducted. In 1918, he married Isabel III of Arveyres, who at the time was already Queen. Marinus confronted his brother about the Omnestacita, and was initially rebuffed. However, in 1943, when Marinus confronted him with irrefutable proof, and stripped him of his position and Legate's commission. Marinus was shut out of the government, and retired to his villa in Beneventum, in a state of quasi house arrest. In 1945, however, with the war beginning to go badly and with Duresia starting to become internally unstable, a group of Senators approached him on taking the reigns of power from his brother in the event Eurasia lost the war. Marinus wrote in his diaries that he never wanted to be Emperor, and told the Senators he would reluctantly accept the position according to the Laws of Succession if the need arose. Finally, in late 1946, with the war going poorly and public opinion turning against Laurentius, the Praetorian Guard, with the assent of the Senate, arrested Laurentius on accusations of treason and conspiracy, which had no legal bearing. The Senate declared that if Laurentius did not abdicate, a republic would be formed. Thus, in May of 1947, Laurentius aggreed to abdicate, and shortly thereafter went into exile. Within two weeks of taking the throne, Marinus announced the withdrawal of all Eurasian forces from still-occupied territories. Laurentius had consolidated a great amount of power through various means, effectively turning the position of Emperor into a dictatorship. Marinus gradually transferred these powers back to the Senate, restoring Eurasia to non-despotic governance. In 1951, the Senate voted unanimously to grant him the honorific title "Redemptor", meaning "he who redeems". Marinus is generally ranked as one of the most influential Emperors in Eurasian history, falling only behind Emperors such as Julius Eurasius and Cephorus I. Marinus' reign lasted until 1967, when he died of metastatic lung cancer. It is believed today that the stresses of twenty-years of imperial office, coupled with his natural anxiety, lead to his death. His death was widely mourned, and was seen as the end of an era.